The Future of Officer Training in Canada and Bermuda

This summer, the Canada and Bermuda Territory’s College for Officer Training will welcome the first session of cadets into its new eight-year training paradigm.

On this episode of the podcast, Major Deana Zelinsky, training principal, and Dr. Michael Boyce, Director of Program Implementation, give us all the details on what's new at CFOT.

Transcript

Kristin Ostensen  

This is the Salvationist podcast. I’m Kristin Ostensen. This summer, our territory’s College for Officer Training will welcome the first session of cadets into its new eight-year training paradigm. There are lots of changes afoot. So, on this episode of the podcast, we get all the details with Major Deana Zelinsky, training principal, and Dr. Michael Boyce, director of program implementation.

Hi, Deana. Hi, Michael. Welcome to the Salvationist podcast. It's great to have you.

Deana Zelinsky

Thanks, Kristin. It's great to be here. Thanks for inviting us. 

Michael Boyce

Thank you.

Kristin Ostensen  

So there have been a lot of exciting changes happening at CFOT recently. And the one people might be the most familiar with is, of course, the move from Winnipeg to Toronto. So where are we at now, in this process?

Deana Zelinsky

I just came from Winnipeg. And I can tell you that there are boxes that are being packed up. But primarily, CFOT is left being untouched in Winnipeg because we want the cadets to be able to finish out their term there without feeling as though, you know, there's all this commotion going on around them. We're trying to keep that consistent and steady on that end. And also, with the announcement that Booth University College is going to be moving into 2090 Vaughan in the future, that's meant that we won't have to pack up everything. So that's made things a little bit easier. And I think, really, what you're getting at is: What's happening in Toronto where the new space is going to be? 

Kristin Ostensen  

Indeed!

Deana Zelinsky

And if you were to walk on the fourth floor, you would begin to see some changes. Certainly things have been cleared out to make room for the renovation of the classrooms that will be going on that floor. And we are in the process of working with the property department and with a, I guess, a design firm, for lack of a better word, to just help us make sure that it's aesthetically pleasing when people come on to the CFOT floor at THQ. And so that work is going to be taking place over the summer. And we will have a formal opening and recognition around Welcome Weekend in September. But cadets will come to THQ starting in July, so we will have to have something ready for them.

Kristin Ostensen  

Yeah, I can't wait to see that all come together. Of course, along with that change, CFOT has developed a new training paradigm. And can you give us some background on this new model and how it was developed?

Michael Boyce

Sure. So, this has been a long process, actually. Kind of back in 2020, there was a document produced on models of training that looked at the way residential training was going and some of the limitations there. And from that, a working group was put together of people from all over the territory. I was part of that working group—that was kind of how I got brought into the project. And from that, a recommendation went to IHQ. You know, we worked with leadership development department and the office of the personnel secretary to make sure that the training that we're putting in place meets all the criteria; that everything is being done in a way that best suits and best prepares Salvation Army officers for ministry.

Kristin Ostensen  

For sure. And people may have heard reference to an eight-year plan, and might be thinking, Hey, I thought training college was just two years. Can you talk a bit about the eight years and how they're divided up?

Deana Zelinsky

That's a great question because you've really tapped into one of the areas in which we've had to clarify things over time with different groups and different people. Really, what it's looking at when we refer to an eight-year plan is officer training and development in the first eight years, which encompasses candidates who are in the application process for coming to training. It includes cadet training, which historically has been two years and normally is two years, but sometimes that's shortened or lengthened, depending on need. And then it's referring to five years as lieutenants. So that's the eight years of officer training and development. The candidate phase has normally included one course called Introduction to Officership. And in order to, as Michael said, be able to encompass all the areas of learning and development that's required from an international standard and to position people well to be successful not only in training, but as an officer, we've added some requirements to this candidate phase and we've worked with leadership development. So we've brought in two modules of the Harvard managed mentor program for foundational leadership. And so those are two modules that can be done online in a cohort and will provide an introductory experience to what it's going to be like to train going forward in a hybrid model. Not all training workshops are going to be face to face; some of them are going to be online. And so this is an introduction to that. And as well, one of the new courses in that candidate year is moving what was formerly in the training year, we're moving that into the candidate year, and that's the English course through Booth University College, so that people are ready when they start their courses as a cadet, in having completed that course. For those who have already done an introduction, or who have completed a bachelor or undergraduate degree, they won't have to take the English course; they will simply take a writing for success course. So, introducing them to our own internal processes like Outlook and Teams and that kind of thing, and pairing them. So that's moving some pieces of the learning into that candidate year. And then the cadet training year, or years—years two and three, of course, in the eight-year plan—we will resequence some of the learning during that time. And it's not only resequencing, but it's also making room for making space for more experiential learning. And so that's the first three years. Michael is going to talk about the last five years. But we also frame that as first five years because that's when cadets are commissioned as lieutenants. 

Michael Boyce

And this is one of the things that's significantly different from what's happened before—CFOT assumes responsibility for the curriculum of the first five years. We are not supervising lieutenants—that process remains the same. But we ensure that they are meeting the requirements for confirmation to become captains. So some of the things that were in the two years of training up until this point—some of the academic courses, for example—have been moved into the first five years, or the years of lieutenants. So they'll have to take a course each winter, from years four to eight. There's also things like CFOT will be part, we will track their PEAC evaluations to ensure that developmental conversations are happening. That's really what we want from this process, is to establish patterns of lifelong learning and development that they will carry forward with them into their time as ministers in The Salvation Army. Also some just-in-time learning workshops, virtual—probably, at that period, they will all be virtual—on different things that are happening in The Salvation Army, on community engagement, things that are that are applicable to their appointments. So again, up until this point, leadership development department has overseen this curriculum; we're assuming this. Also, in terms of spiritual life development, going forward, lieutenants will have an additional day, as part of the annual divisional officers retreat, that will be just for them. The curriculum would be delivered by the appropriate divisional officers, but supported by CFOT. So again, we're part of the development of lieutenants as they're preparing for confirmation.

Deana Zelinsky

I'm glad you picked up on the spiritual life development piece because what we've recognized is, some of the feedback from training college has been that this aspect of training has been exceptional, that it has been very strong. And so how do you strengthen something that's already going so well? And one of the realities is that when cadets leave training and move into their first appointment, so much changes in terms of rhythm. And we talk about rhythm of life and spiritual life development; it's key, it's foundational. And so some of the pieces that we will be attending to during a lieutenant’s time of ministry is really to support them and ensure that those rhythms that they've established continue. And that I think would be, if you were to ask about outcomes at the end of eight years, if people can say that has continued, that would be a great outcome.

Kristin Ostensen  

Yeah, absolutely. So, you've already covered some pretty significant changes by talking about the new eight-year plan. But what are some of the other key differences between the previous and the new training paradigm?

Deana Zelinsky

Well, a key difference is that cadets will start training in July and not the end of August. That's been intentional, as part of one of the foundational pieces to this program is giving cadets an officer-like experience, so that there is from the very time that they start a sense of, Hey, this is what it's going to be like to be an officer. And so, for the territory, officer change of appointments happen in July. And so we are going to continue with that. But there will be maybe an ease into the training, allowing those particularly with children to be able to settle in and to establish a really good foundational experience in a new community. And so one of the key differences going forward in training refers to something that we're calling home-base corps assignment. And so, cadets will come to training college, and they will be assigned to a corps in the Greater Toronto Area. And they will position themselves in that community. So, they will live within the distance of maybe around 10 kilometres max to the corps that they're assigned—not to CFOT's address, but to their corps address. So they can be part of the church, that they can be part of that faith community. If they have children, their children can be discipled and be part of the community that is in place for them at their home-base corps. It means they'll go to school, and they will shop, and they will get to know neighbours in the community of their corps, rather than CFOT. 

Michael Boyce

The other thing that I think is significant is the balance between the experiential learning and the academic. I think one of the things that we've had to clarify is that in reprioritizing some of the academic courses, for example, we're not removing any of the requirements; we're actually just spreading them out and trying to sequence them in a way that gives cadets, or in the case of lieutenant officers, learning that they need to know for their appointment, and then a place in which they can practise and live out the education that they're learning. So, for example, in the home-base corps, they'll be working and serving under the mentorship of a field training officer who's kind of like modeling life of a Salvation Army officer. But in their academic courses, in the first year of training, year two, they're taking the first course in preaching, so they can actually start preaching in their home-base corps, probably December, January of that first year as they’ve completed the course. So there's, again, this training and education go hand in hand. And you know, in university education, experiential learning is experiencing this boom, because they recognize that having a place for students to live out the lessons that they learn in the classroom is much, much more effective. And I think that that's really what we're doing. As well as modeling this pattern of lifelong learning. You have to take, you know, this course and this course—we're kind of, you know, putting a pattern out for people. You're always learning—that's the reality of life and certainly life as a minister. As an officer, you have to keep learning. Things are going to change—you’re going to have to learn how to do things different ways. If we can model that in the training and development program, we set people up for success.

Deana Zelinsky

There's two more key differences that I want to make sure we don't miss. One is how cadets are going to be compensated. That's a significant shift for this territory. And I give so much credit to our territorial leadership and to those who have the finance minds to be able to help work through this to ensure that cadets are receiving an officer-like allowance. I go back to that comment: We want people to experience what it's like to be an officer from the get-go, so that there's no surprises. And so they will they will be provided a vehicle allowance. They will be given a quarters much the same way that officers are—maybe not exactly the same way because, in Toronto, housing is at a premium so it might be a condo or an apartment versus a single-family home. But even in terms of the allowance and the benefits, they are very similar to officer’s compensation. And so I just want to strongly emphasize how grateful I am to the territory for moving down that pathway. The other thing is, for many of us in The Salvation Army, we've always known cadets to go on a summer assignment or a winter assignment. And we have announced those appointments as they come. But those aren't going to be happening going forward. We're trying to create that continuous place of learning at the field-base core, the home-base corps, is what we're calling it. And so they will do their intensive learning opportunities there. But that doesn't mean that there will not be intensive learning opportunities for them across the territory. It's important for cadets to be out across the territory and understand that there's a lot of difference between ministry in the Prairies or in Newfoundland versus Toronto and the urban context. So there will be times throughout their training, that they will be able to go and have an intensive somewhere else. And we can accommodate the change in those timings so that they don't have to happen at Christmas or in the summer, because cadets can continue to learn virtually. So they can keep up with their classes that are taking place while doing it.

Kristin Ostensen  

No, that's good. I'm sure a lot of people were wondering, or might be wondering about that with the cadets becoming more localized into the GTA. So that's really great to hear that we're still going to see our cadets on the ground across the territory. We're a very diverse territory, so getting that experience is really important. And Michael, you already touched on this greater emphasis on experiential learning. And I'm wondering if you can talk a bit more about why that's important and how this new model is going to better equip Salvationists to serve as officers in the 21st century.

Michael Boyce

Sure. Some of the some of the feedback that we've had from the field is that some lieutenants, when they're commissioned, just are surprised by the difference between CFOT and their first appointment—the requirements of the first appointment, what's expected of them. By focusing on experiential learning and not losing, you know, those important academic pieces and need-to-know training, we're actually setting people up for better success. So, the learning curve when they get into their new appointment will not be that steep. We are looking at a new revised workshop, specifically in year three as they're getting ready for their first appointment, on the transition to your first appointment. So, everything that we've done, everything that we're doing, is designed very intentionally to set people up for success. We don't want people burning out, we don't want people getting into appointments and feeling overwhelmed. It doesn't serve the Army, it doesn't serve congregations, it doesn't serve the ministers to put them in that in that position. And there's so much of The Salvation Army that is experiential. It's a very experiential denomination, and getting people into opportunities for ministry. So, part of the two years of training, they will be going to social missions as part of their mission and ministry formation, as well as the home-base corps. So they're going to get an exposure to all these different social ministries and participating in serving. That's really important. Experiential learning sets people up for success.

Kristin Ostensen  

Yeah, that makes sense. And in terms of the sort of broader 21st century ministry challenges—I mean, so much has changed, even just in the past few years with COVID and going virtual and all these things. I wonder if you have any thoughts on how the new model addresses some of those challenges or changes perhaps.

Deana Zelinsky

I think the new model will make space for that more current experience and understanding of ministry. We have always had field-based training, so some of this isn't new; it's just packaged differently. And I think we want to also say that we value, this territory has made a commitment to accredited learning. And so we don't want to lose that either. We recognize that both are important. But as Michael said, the way that things have been positioned has been really strongly the academic focus for the training period. And the, what was formerly the summer assignments and winter assignments didn't allow enough time for them to truly experience all of these new systems and processes that have really come into play—technology, online needs, where officers are needing to be familiar with all of these different programs that help and support ministry. And so, in order to do that, we don't want to add another year of training. We want to embed these experiences throughout the eight-year journey to really position, when lieutenants are confirmed as captains, that they're not just ready for ministry; that they are competent. And so, after three years, of a candidate and a cadet, they will be ready for ministry. And we hope that nothing surprises them. But after first five years as a lieutenant, we want them to be competent, and to be truly confident in themselves, that they have not only the skills and abilities and learnings that had been imparted, but they are now beginning to identify that for themselves. And they will be able to keep up with the trend of what it means to serve as an officer in the 21st century.

Kristin Ostensen  

Yeah, that's being equipped for sacred service, you could say.

Deana Zelinsky

Great way to put that! We're going to write that down. I like it.

[laughing]

Michael Boyce

We’re going to trademark that right now.

Kristin Ostensen  

Now, of course, CFOT recently held some townhall meetings to engage with officers and Salvationists about these changes. What kind of feedback did you get at these townhalls? What's on people's minds? What questions are they asking? What are people saying?

Michael Boyce

It's so interesting. I'm sure you've had this experience, Kristin, that when you're working on something really closely, there is this moment of terror: Is this going to translate at all? Because it makes sense to me, it makes sense to us. I've been really impressed, surprised, uplifted by the responses that we've gotten from not only the town halls—that was great—from the DEBs; from, I presented this to the second-year lieutenants institute, and these are recently commissioned lieutenants. And everyone's like, this just makes sense. Some of the questions are very practical, like about, you know, the housing of cadets. Some people filter it through their experience at training college. So, you know, “Well, how are you going to do this?” Not necessarily recognizing that, in the new paradigm, we can find space for things, but it's going to look different. Clarifying questions about, you know, tracking. Where people live comes up a lot—how is that going to work? Families, how are families going to be accounted for? And really, I think this is a model that places an emphasis on the livability of the family life in a very profound way. Your home-base corps becomes your place of ministry and becomes the community that supports you, as well as CFOT—not in addition to CFOT or as opposed to CFOT. So, I think we've actually, you know, supported families in a more profound way in this new model. Other feedback, it's just been really positive. Questions about how it will impact current lieutenants, people in the candidacy process, things like that. But it's been really positive; the feedback has been really good.

Deana Zelinsky

And I think we have made sure to communicate that, while we have put this in place, eight years is a very long time. We cannot wait eight years to evaluate what we’re doing. So we need to be able to build those evaluative pieces in along the way. And so, we have to be prepared ourselves to recognize or hear feedback when we hear it—to say, OK, something's not working, we need to go back and we need to fix it. And just have that open mind and understanding that what we've put in place and what's on paper is maybe not going to look the same even two years from now. But the core pieces that have been embedded in the training program for decades, that have been established by international regulations, orders and regulations—those are there. Those cannot be changed. And so, our outcomes are clearly identified and guided by those orders and regulations. How we do that needs to be contextualized for, as we've said, a very diverse territory. Canada is diverse, Bermuda is diverse. So, we need to be sensitive to all of those pieces as we enter into a new era of training for this territory.

Michael Boyce

And I think all of us are very aware that there will be wrinkles to be ironed out as we get along. You know, once you add the on the unknowable factor of humans into an equation, you never know what you're going to get. So, I think everyone accepts that and understands that. And if we can communicate well with our field-training officers, with our cadets, with our external stakeholders, I think we can make this, you know, something really impressive, and, I have occasionally said, like a kind of a world leader in training in The Salvation Army. But you know, maybe that's not for me to say. We'll see.

Kristin Ostensen  

Well, it is a very encouraging and exciting development for our territory. And as we prepare to enter this first year of the new program, what are you two most excited about?

Deana Zelinsky

I am most excited about changing my focus from getting a project off the ground to being a training principal. Yeah, I'm really excited for, you know, a real singular focus there and attention there. Sometimes when you work on something so intently for a long time, you’re just kind of ready to move from that. And I think that's my headspace. But I'm most excited to see the ideas, the work, the collaboration that's gone into this—just to see some of this come to fruition. Because, as much as that will be exciting for me, I think that will also be exciting for the myriad of people who have helped in this project. So, certainly, cadets coming to Toronto is a very big, exciting time to think about. Yeah, so lots to look forward to.

Michael Boyce

I am most looking forward to getting cadets started, so that we can have stories to share with other people. That's been one of the biggest challenges is talking about this curriculum—it's just the curriculum, it's just the structure of the program. We're story-based people. We like stories, we like to hear people's experiences. And we don't have anyone who's doing this program yet. So I'm really excited about getting people to start and then using those stories to explain and share and get other people excited in a new and profound way.

Kristin Ostensen  

Wonderful. Well, thanks so much to both of you for your time today and for sharing those exciting updates. And I know we'll all be praying for our new cadets as they start their training this summer.

Deana Zelinsky

Thank you, Kristin. Thanks again for inviting us—really appreciate your support in getting the message out.

Kristin Ostensen

Thanks for joining us for another episode of the Salvationist podcast. For more episodes, visit Salvationist.ca/Podcast.